Review: Chain of Iron (The Last Hours #2) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Chain of Iron

Series: The Last Hours #2

Previous book in this series: Chain of Gold

Prequel short stories: The Penultimate Hours

Other series in the Shadowhunter Chronicles: The Infernal Devices | The Mortal Instruments | The Dark Artifices

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical

Publication date: March 2021

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted. She’s engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood. She has a new life in London with her best friend, Lucie Herondale, and James’s charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade.

But the truth is far grimmer. James and Cordelia’s marriage is a lie, arranged to save Cordelia’s reputation. James is in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn, whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident. Cortana burns Cordelia’s hand when she touches it, while her father has grown bitter and angry. And a serial murderer is targeting the Shadowhunters of London, killing under cover of darkness, then vanishing without a trace.

Together with the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the city’s most dangerous streets. All the while, each is keeping a shocking secret: Lucie, that she plans to raise Jesse from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn a dangerous oath of loyalty to a mysterious power; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the arch-demon Belial. And that he himself may be the killer they seek.

My rating: ★★★★★

I thought I was prepared for the angst this book was going to deliver, but boy was I wrong! 🙃

I think at this point everyone is pretty much aware of how much I love the Shadowhunter Chronicles so I probably don't even need to mention how much I loved this book too. Lol. The Shadowhunter world is one of my absolute favorites, so I always enjoy my time in these books. I just love the concept of demon hunters descended from angels, and there being warlocks, fae, vampires, and all that. And not only do I love how rich the world of the Shadowhunter Chronicles is, but I also like that there is always something new to discover. And on top of that, the way Cassie weaves the stories across all the Shadowhunter Chronicles together is amazing! The way they all interconnect even though these characters and individual stories are decades and decades apart... It's so good!

One thing I liked about this book in particular was that it had this sort of murder mystery element to it. There's someone killing Shadowhunters in a very brutal way, and James and the gang are understandably freaking out, wondering if this is Belial's doing. I mean, it's gotta be, right? Anyway, I really enjoyed this aspect of it! Although, I'm not gonna lie, it did take a while to get to the action because the characters were dealing with a lot of other stuff. Normally this would bother me, me being an action girl and all, but it didn't! These characters are very interesting and I just love them, so I was very into all the drama they were dealing with.

I mean, James and Cordelia are getting freaking married! One of my favorite things about this book and series in general is the romance. And I really like the fake dating trope, but this one takes it to the next level because OMG marriage!

In this case though, Cordelia believes her feelings toward James are one sided because of his fixation on Grace. Oh, if she only knew what was really happening with James and the damn bracelet Grace gave him...

But even with all this, there was a lot of sexual tension between them, and some of the scenes were

It was so good! I love James and Cordelia! But I love all the other characters as well, such as Matthew. I adore him! I feel so bad for everything he was struggling with, the blame and guilt he places on himself.

"You cannot save people who do not want to be saved," said Magnus. "You can only stand by their side and hope that when they wake and realize they need saving, you will be there to help them."

And I'm afraid of the inevitable heartbreak he is going to experience in the next book. I just want him to be happy!

Some other of my favorite characters are Alastair and Thomas, and the sexual tension between them in particular...

I loved it! The scenes between these two were some of my favorites! And yeah, Alastair did a terrible thing back when they were at Shadowhunter Academy, spreading a nasty rumor about Charlotte. It was horrible and I get why the Merry Thieves dislike him. But the fact that he's trying to change and make amends... I'm loving this character arc! Especially when it comes to his relationship with Cordelia and his unborn sibling.

Pulling the curtains shut, Alastair told himself the baby would have everything he could give it. A presence in its life of someone who could not quite be a parent, but who would try to be a better brother than he had been to Cordelia. Someone who would tell the child he or she was loved, and perfect, and need not change for anyone or anything.

And while his actions at the Academy were not okay, you start to understand why he became the person he was at school. I really felt for him and appreciated the effort he put into becoming a better person. Alastair has definitely become one of my favorite characters of the series!

One character I did not like at all, no matter how hard I tried, was Grace. She is terrible! We actually got some chapters on her that explored her past as she grew up with Jesse and Tatiana. I was like, “Oooh, is this book trying to make me feel empathy toward Grace? Ugh.” But you know what? I actually did feel for her, especially the way that Tatiana treated her... sometimes. Mostly I just disliked her. Lol. I think the difference between Alastair and Grace is that Alastair, since returning to London, has been trying to be a better person. Grace was still letting herself be a pawn in Tatiana and Belial’s plans. I just wanted her to grow a spine and tell Tatiana NO!

The end gives me some hope, but we will see.

Speaking of the end, it was BRUTAL. The trope that happened there at the end I am NOT a fan of. It was frustrating! But I did understand the characters' actions.

I could go on and on about this book and talk about every single thing I liked, but I feel like this review is long as is.

Even though I found the ending frustrating, I really did love this book. I loved the premise and I, of course, loved the characters—Cassie always writes the most loveable, realistic characters! I'm excited to see how this all ends, though I don't know if I'm emotionally prepared for it.

At the end of the book we did get a short story, One Must Always Be Careful of Books, and it featured Jem and Magnus! Yay! They were gone for a lot of this book, so this story shows you what they were up to during that time. And this was a lot of fun! You basically had a haunted book, and that's all I'm gonna say about that 👀

But I really enjoyed it! Jem and Magnus are two of my favorite characters, so I absolutely loved this! And it almost seemed like it set things up for the third Eldest Curses book, which I am very excited about!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊